The subject matter herein relates generally to connector assemblies, and more particularly to connector assemblies with cable bundles.
An electrical interconnection between devices is typically made by joining together complementary electrical connectors that are attached to the devices. One application environment that uses such electrical connectors is in high speed, differential electrical systems, such as those common in the telecommunications or computing environments. In a traditional approach, two circuit boards are interconnected with one another in a backplane and a daughter board configuration. However, similar types of connectors are also being used in cable connector to board connector applications. With the cable connector to board configuration, one connector, commonly referred to as a header, is board mounted and includes a plurality of signal contacts which connect to conductive traces on the board. The other connector, commonly referred to as a cable connector or a receptacle, includes a plurality of contacts that are connected to individual wires in one or more cables of a cable bundle. The receptacle mates with the header to interconnect the board with the cables so that signals can be routed therebetween.
With the ongoing trend toward smaller, faster, and higher performance electrical components such as processors used in computers, routers, switches, etc., it has become increasingly desirable for the electrical interfaces along the electrical paths to also operate at higher frequencies and at higher densities with increased throughput. For example, performance demands for video, voice and data drive input and output speeds of connectors within such systems to increasingly faster levels. Because of the environments that such electrical connectors are used in, the electrical connectors may generate and/or be subjected to various levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI) or radiofrequency interference (RFI) emitted from the electrical connectors and/or from external sources, such as electronic devices in the vicinity of the electrical connectors. The EMI and/or RFI may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the electrical connectors or other electronic devices in the vicinity of the electrical connectors.
Typically the electrical connectors include a backshell that provides shielding from EMI and/or RFI and prevents EMI and/or RFI from being emitted into and/or out of the enclosure of the backshell. The backshell is a metal part that surrounds the cables of the cable connector. However, the cables extend from the backshell through one or more holes, and the one or more holes provide a break in the shielding where EMI and/or RFI leakage may occur. In some known connector assemblies, the cable bundle includes a bulk cable shield that surrounds the cables. The bulk cable shield mechanically and electrically connects to the backshell to extend the shielding around the cables outside of the backshell. However, the bulk cable shield typically has a large geometry and couples to the backshell at only a single location. Therefore, if the connection between the bulk cable shield and the backshell were to fail, a significant shielding problem would result. Furthermore, the cost of a bulk cable shield, outer jacket, and any other outer layers of the cable bundle surrounding the cables may be prohibitive, especially for long distances between electrical connectors and devices.
A need remains for a connector assembly that provides better shielding of the cables of a cable bundle and better EMI and/or RFI containment within the backshell than prior art devices.